Washington Notebook: Snowe does a star turn on sitcom

Maine’s soon-to-be retired senior senator, Olympia Snowe, finally had her 15 seconds (well, closer to 45 seconds) on a network sitcom. You can find a link to the clip involving Snowe here or a link to the full episode here.

Additional Photos

Sen. Olympia Snowe appears in a scene from NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,” which aired last week. At left is California Sen. Barbara Boxer and at right is actress Amy Poehler portraying the character Leslie Knoppe. David Giesbrecht/NBC

Snowe, a Republican, appeared alongside Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California during part of Thursday night’s season premier of the NBC comedy “Parks and Recreation.” The pair of veteran lawmakers are introduced to main character Leslie Knope (played by Amy Poehler) during a supposed cocktail party in Washington.

But rather than excitedly talking up the two senators (who rank No. 4 and No. 26 on her list of “amazing women”), Knope gets flustered and talks about her “small and unimportant” town that is “overrun with raccoons and obese toddlers.”

Snowe has two lines: “Pleasure to meet you” and “I’m sure that’s not true” in response to Knope’s comment about her unimportant town. After Knope compliments the senators on their “grace under pressure” and calls them role models, she flees the scene, prompting Boxer and Snowe to shrug at one another. (Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, then has an awkward encounter with an upset Knope in the coat closet moments later.)

Snowe said she enjoyed the taping of the show back in July.

“Although the show is fictional, Amy’s character, Leslie, demonstrates an admirable passion for public service, echoing the belief I have long held that public service is a most noble pursuit,” Snowe said in a statement.

COLLINS GETS A BINNACLE

Stroll into almost any congressional office and you’re bound to see plaques and awards from organizations showing gratitude for the representative’s attention to their particular cause.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins’ latest award isn’t going to fit on any wall or desktop, however. In fact, office staffers and interns may find themselves competing for space with it.

Collins was this year’s recipient of the Congressional Sea Services Award, which is given to one member of Congress for their outstanding contributions to the Navy, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and merchant marine. And since the Navy League of the United States is all about ships, perhaps it’s no surprise that the league’s award would be a bit, well, oversized.

The award is a binnacle: a metal stand measuring about 3½ feet tall that houses the ship’s compass for those at the helm. This particular binnacle was taken from the SS Sioux Falls Victory, a Victory ship that saw duty during World War II (earning a Battle Star award) and the Korean and Vietnam wars.

“I will proudly display the binnacle in my office,” Collins said during a presentation ceremony. “It’s going to take up a whole corner in my office.”

Top brass from all of the nautical service branches were present for the after-hours ceremony held in a Senate committee room (with wine, beer and finger food). They included: Robert Work, under secretary of the Navy; Adm. Robert Papp, commandant of the Coast Guard; Lt. Gen. Richard Mills, the Marine Corps’ deputy commandant for combat development; and David Matsuda, head of the U.S. Maritime Administration.

Speakers praised Collins, a Republican, for her support of the services and particularly for her work on the Senate Appropriations Committee on behalf of shipbuilding. That is, of course, an important industry for Collins’ home state, and Bath Iron Works and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard came up frequently.

“Without her help, we just wouldn’t have the number of ships that we have in the fleet now,” said Work. To emphasize his point, he noted that 31 ships have been approved for construction at BIW since Collins arrived in Congress, eventually accounting for more than 10 percent of the Navy’s fleet.

(It’s worth noting that Collins’ colleague from Maine, retiring Sen. Olympia Snowe, is also heavily involved in maritime issues, serving on the committee that oversees the Coast Guard, fisheries, the merchant marine and maritime navigation. And Maine Reps. Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud also serve on committees that oversee the armed forces, the Coast Guard and maritime transportation).

Collins referred to the old saying “Bath-built is best-built” and, turning to Papp, said she was confident that BIW as well as smaller shipyards in Maine have the capability to produce more cutters, patrol boats and other vessels for the Coast Guard.

Papp, whose service receives a fraction of the funding of the other military branches and whose fleet includes cutters built in the 1960s, seemed to welcome the suggestion.

“Message was received loud and clear: more Coast Guard cutters … BIW … roger. We’ll take them any way we can get them,” he said with a grin.

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